Anna Faris can do a 'Number' on raunchy comedy

by Donna Freydkin - Sept. 29, 2011 09:53 AMUSA Today

NEW YORK - If she were a candy, Anna Faris would be a SweeTart.

She appears angelic, batting those wide chocolaty eyes and reverting to a faux-breathy, beatific voice to discuss whether she made her husband, actor Chris Pratt, audition to play one of her exes in the comedy "What's Your Number?" That's when her caustic side kicks in.

Faris, 34, has managed to make bawdy endearing and adorable -- and sweetly absurd. And she plays to her comedy strengths in this Friday's "Number," which she executive-produced. Faris is a single girl who panics that she might have bedded too many guys and, with the help of her skirt-chasing neighbor (Chris Evans), sets out to reconnect with her former paramours.

Like Ally in "Number," Faris seems unaware of her own charms. "She's completely oblivious to her own talent," Evans says. "She's the first person to make fun of herself. She doesn't know how pretty she is, how funny she is or how smart she is. If she doesn't know by now, she never will."

Faris says she was drawn to Ally because she'll always go for the underdog. "She felt like a loser. I loved the idea of someone who was sloppy and a bit of a mess," Faris says.

To her, they're more interesting and relatable than the typical impeccably coiffed but inexplicably single overachievers you see in films.

"I feel that we don't see enough (losers) in Hollywood. It's always this woman who, if she gets drunk, it's by accident. Maybe she's clumsy in high heels," Faris says. "I'm also not that girl. I have a cat that poops on my bath mats every day. And sometimes I clean it up."

Faris taps you on the arm for effect. "Are you looking for a cat? She's 20. She's a catress. She's from 'Stuart Little.'"

She adopted the elderly cat so the feline could have pleasant, peaceful final days. And that, Pratt says, is typical of his wife.

"She had a very late growth spurt and for a long time was gangly and awkward. She had to develop a sense of humor. She's so beautiful and talented and funny and has a heart and empathizes for the underdog."

If anything, Faris would prefer to camouflage her physical attributes on-screen. She just spent the summer in Manhattan shooting Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy "The Dictator."

"I grew out my armpit hair all summer. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? I hadn't either. So when they asked me, I said sure. I figured it would be cute and maybe a little wispy and a little blond.

"I don't know why I thought that -- I bleach my hair. It was dark and 3 inches long and super curly. It was so disgusting. I would show it at parties, and people would be too polite to tell me how disgusting that looks. That was the summer of armpit hair."

Pratt didn't, ahem, bristle at Faris' fleece. "It was a huge turn-on -- and not because I'm attracted to armpit hair. It's because she's willing to go so hard for a joke. That, to me, was really sexy. She was willing to spend the entire summer in shirts that were at least half-sleeve in length -- all for one gag. That shows focus and dedication."

In the wake of this spring's "Bridesmaids," which earned a staggering $169 million domestically without a single male lead, studios are more open to raunchier female comedies, which are Faris' passion.